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In his poem “After the Winter,” Jamaican-born poet and novelist Claude McKay writes of a “summer isle / Where bamboos spire to shafted grove / And wide-mouthed orchids smile,” declaring that “… we will build a cottage there / Beside an open glade …” It’s a serene, joyous vision offered to the speaker’s beloved, and it may shine a bit of light on the etymological connection between glade and the adjective glad, besides. Glade, which has been part of the English language since the early 1500s, was originally used not just to indicate a clearing in the woods but often specifically to refer to one filled with sunlight (note that McKay specifies that his glade is “open,” as glades can be in full or partial shade). It’s this sunniness that has led some etymologists over the years to suggest a connection with glad, which in Middle English also meant “shining.” To further the intrigue, a now-obsolete sense of glade once referred to a clear or bright space in the sky, or to a flash of light or lightning.
Examples of glade in a Sentence
Jessica Chapel, Condé Nast Traveler, 1 Nov. 2024
With a vertical drop of 3,040 feet, 2,342 skiable acres, 930 acres of glade skiing and 122 runs, Deer Valley offers more than enough challenges for all levels of skiers and boarders.
—Roger Sands, Forbes, 28 Oct. 2024
This past winter, Chris Davenport, a two-time free-skiing world champion who calls Aspen home, introduced me to an even bigger adrenaline rush: 1,500 acres of open bowls and glades on the far side of Ajax.
—Jen Murphy, Condé Nast Traveler, 10 Oct. 2024
An estate of some 3,400 square meters (36,600 square feet) spreads from the property’s private dock along a 200-meter protective seawall frontage and up into a dark green bucolic glade of trees.
—Nielsen Dinwoodie, Forbes, 3 Oct. 2024
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Dictionary Entries Near glade
Cite this Entry
“Glade.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/glade. Accessed 24 Nov. 2024.
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glade
noun
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